Autism occurs among women, too

Autism rate increases are mostly among those with milder symptoms, not individuals with severe symptoms.

Roughly 1 in 125 people have autism spectrum disorder globally

The disorder has been increasingly diagnosed as its definition has grown broader and as clinicians have become more adept at identifying it—with some estimates suggesting the figures are much higher. These figures include people across the spectrum, some of whom live mostly independent lives, while others require life-long care and assistance.

Almost 80% of people diagnosed with autoimmune diseases are women

Yet it's still unanswered what may account for that difference. To better understand this disparity researchers are exploring factors including hormonal changes that occur around puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, as well as gut microbe differences, and aspects of X-chromosome protein-coding genes. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

A growing number of autism researchers with the disorder are reshaping the field.

Why are women more likely to suffer autoimmune diseases than men?

A majority of Americans with autoimmune diseases have more than one X chromosome, a typical marker of the female biological sex, according to a study published in February of 2024. During fetal development, cells side with one X chromosome over the other, preventing the overproduction of X-chromosome-specific proteins and shutting down the twin chromosome. This article explores how this X-chromosome inactivation can lead to autoimmune disorders by generating antibodies to the body's own tissues.

The sibling of someone with autism has a 20% chance of developing ASD

The disorder is strongly linked with inheritance, and research suggests that if one child has ASD, there's a one in 5 chance the next child will develop autism, which is seven times more likely than the general population.

1 in 31 kids in the US has autism

That figure comes from an analysis published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on data gathered on eight-year-olds in 2022. Its figures mark a significant increase from 2000, when the estimated autism figure was one in 150, but improvements in diagnosis and changes to the disease criteria that broadened the diagnostic criteria are widely believed to be driving that increase.

Diagnosis as an adult can have huge benefits, including helping someone with ASD to feel real

This first-person account of a woman diagnosed with autism at age 31 covers her experience of why it was useful for her to receive her diagnosis as an adult and how it helped her to understand her life and her feelings of 'being an imposter.'

Females are diagnosed with MS roughly 3 to 4 times more often than males

This PBS documentary traces a filmmaker's personal journey with MS after being diagnosed at age 26. It encompasses both his efforts to stymie the disease's progression and his search for answers about the disease, when, statistically, he seemed at low risk due to his gender, lack of known family risk, and other factors.

Risk factors linked with ASD include older parents, preterm births, and toxic prenatal exposures

Though researchers agree that there is a strong genetic component to ASD development, certain environmental factors heighten that risk, with studies suggesting older parents, premature birth, maternal obesity, and air pollution exposure in utero all elevate risks of ASD development. There is no connection between receiving vaccines and ASD development.

Researchers are exploring neural links between Alzheimer's and autism

Recent DNA sequencing and molecular biology studies suggest that similarities in genes, neural circuitry and patterns of disease warrant further exploration to potentially better understand both conditions and how to treat them. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Women are four times as likely to be diagnosed with seasonal depression

This prevalence trend mirrors the broader incidence of depression among women and is well-documented. Researchers suggest the disparity stems from differences in hormones, social role expectations, coping mechanisms, and more. Men may also present with depression differently, and seek help less.

Autism spectrum disorder, defined in 2013, was previously categorized as numerous disorders.

Women typically have more robust immune responses than men

This difference helps women better combat infectious diseases, but this more turbo-charged response may also make women more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases by potentially priming their immune systems to overreact to their own cells and tissues and label them as invaders that must be destroyed. Roughly 80% of American women have autoimmune conditions.

Autism and ADHD may have overlapping symptoms and someone can have both disorders

This video explores similarities and differences between these two disorders, which both have genetic causes. Challenges with attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are typical of ADHD. Fidgeting, problems picking up on social cues, emotional dysregulation, and being oblivious to time may occur with both disorders—though the impetus for these behaviors may differ.

Even if you have some ASD-linked gene variations you may not develop ASD

Individual environment and life experiences affect how genes perform in the body, potentially adding methyl groups to DNA that affect their function and turning genes on and off—which may heighten or reduce disease risk.

Autoimmune disorders are one of the top 10 killers of young and middle-aged women

Studies in the US and the UK, though conducted decades ago, have underscored that autoimmune diseases, when grouped together, are a top killer of women.

MS disproportionately sickens women, but men tend to have worse outcomes

Though the disease is more common in women, men's symptoms progress more quickly, with men more often diagnosed with progressive MS and men's cases typically resulting in more severe symptoms—perhaps due at least partly to more delayed diagnosis—and more severe disability over time.

Autism research has faced significant cuts under Trump

One of the largest areas of halted research was at the Department of Education where its Institute of Education Sciences had studies underway focused on developing and evaluating school-based interventions for students with autism. DOE was significantly cut back as part of federal government layoffs.

Gene expression patterns are similar between ASD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder

Postmortem brain tissue analysis suggests there are genetic and epigenetic similarities between individuals with autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. All three conditions appeared to have activation of genes in astrocytes and suppression of specific genes that function at the junction between neurons, called synapses. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Girls are hitting puberty earlier than ever before

Around the world, there has been a spike in children—especially girls—experiencing early puberty and doctors are seeking to understand why. The rise has been particularly strong post-2020. Early-maturing girls are at a higher risk for developing...

Watch this behind-the-scenes interview about the first person ever diagnosed with autism

Two reporters from The Atlantic tell the story behind their effort to track down the first diagnosed autism patient, Donald Gray Triplett, in Forest, Mississippi, and how his life turned out decades later.

Women's health research continues to be underfunded

Health conditions that affect women more than men get less research funding. This interactive collection of graphs details the gendered gap in health research funding. Of the conditions that affect one sex more than another, those that create the...

86 commonly used drugs, including certain antidepressants, painkillers, and immunosuppressants, have different results for men and women, according to recent research.

Autoimmune disease prevalence and incidence are on the rise—but no one knows why

Researchers theorize that environmental factors, including shifts to less healthy diets, air pollution, infections, stress, climate change, and exposures to xenobiotics—substances like pesticides, plastics, and toxins that incite immune responses—may all be fueling epigenetic changes to our bodies that make people's immune responses go awry.

Some UK doctors pushed for broad 'do not resuscitate' orders for autistic adults during COVID

The controversial push was to create such orders without individuals' or their families' consent, underscoring modern-day prejudice against people on the spectrum.

Autoimmune diseases affect between 5% and 10% of people worldwide, but their causes remain unknown

Autoantibodies—which attack the body—may be detectable in the body years before a patient develops symptoms, but some people may have detectable levels yet never go on to develop an autoimmune disease. This video discusses this and other unsolved mysteries with autoimmune disease.

Gender bias in science’s past still echoes in today’s Nobel Prize tallies

Although women make up half the global population, they’ve won only 49 out of 923 Nobel Prizes from 1901 to 2022. Nobel committee members say historical gender bias has limited female representation, but they plan to promote more diverse nominations.

Vertigo is two to three times more common in women than men

Dizziness, including vertigo, occurs among 15% to 20% of adults. Vertigo can have numerous causes, but generally it's more common with age. It's also much more common among women than in men—occuring roughly two to three times more frequently, sometimes potentially related to the hormonal fluctuations of menopause or to migraines.

Why young women experience the most workplace ageism

While one might assume that older women face the most unfair treatment due to age in the workplace, some research from McKinsey & Co. suggests otherwise. The consulting firm found that while ageism impacts older women and men at similar rates, women in their 20s and 30s report much higher instances of ageism than both older women and their young, male colleagues. Learn more from the research here.

Adults are developing food allergies that they didn’t have as children

Research published in 2019 found that almost half of 40,000 surveyed adults with food allergies developed a new food allergy as adults, underscoring that our immune systems may newly misclassify substances later in life.

Health problems are being misdiagnosed as perimenopause symptoms

Symptoms of menopause and perimenopause (the premenopause period) can be varied enough that clinicians dismiss them in patients in their mid-30s and onward as just a symptom of hormone level change. In this story, a woman's itching was dismissed as a hormonal change, but after two years and 11 separate doctor consultations, was diagnosed as cancer. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Some men may be at elevated risk of inheriting tinnitus

A 2017 Swedish Twin Registry study suggests that bilateral tinnitus—when tinnitus occurs in both ears instead of just one—appears to be heritable, at least in men.

Male pattern baldness is not solely inherited from the maternal side; its causes are still under investigation, but scientists think the genetic component of this type of hair loss involves multiple genes.

Early menopause, occurring before age 45, can be triggered by certain risk factors

Some potential causes of early menopause include autoimmune disorders, chemotherapy, smoking, and certain surgeries that cause the body to produce lower levels of estrogen and progesterone.

SAD uniquely affects people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Those with ADHD—chronic issues with attention and executive function—are primed for SAD. Many are disproportionately evening chronotypes (more awake in the evening), have a delayed sleep phase, and have low sensitivity to light in the morning. This podcast explores the overlap between these two groups.

Twin studies suggest celiac disease is among the more genetically-linked disorders

Genetics appear to play a larger part in this condition's development than many other autoimmune disorders. Research shows a roughly 60-75% genetic probability that if one identical twin has it, the other will too. Celiac triggers a small intestine attack when people eat gluten, a protein commonly found in wheat, barley, and rye.

Read a study about racial differences in Lyme disease diagnosis

The research published in September 2025 examined differences in Lyme disease diagnosis among Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries using data from 2016 to 2021. It notes that though US Lyme disease surveillance data indicates more than 90% of diagnosed Lyme cases are among white people, people of color—particularly those who identify as Black or African American—have higher rates of more severe disease of Lyme, with symptoms including arthritis and neurologic impacts.

Studies show correlations between women's sports and leadership roles

A 2024 Women’s Sports Foundation report showed 69% of women who played sports held leadership roles. Similarly, a 2015 study showed 94% of women in C-suite roles had been involved with athletics.

Many patients with psoriasis develop other autoimmune diseases, too

A small study published in 2024 found that nearly three-quarters of patients with psoriasis—a condition in which the body attacks healthy skin cells—also developed autoimmune disorders including thyroid diseases, connective tissue diseases, and more, suggesting such connections between these autoimmune disorders warrant further exploration.

Anxiety is one of the world's most common mental health disorders, causing persistent excessive fear and worry that interferes with daily activities.

Roughly 10% of the world has SSAD—SAD’s milder, nonclinical cousin

Subsyndromal affective disorder is diagnosed when someone exhibits two of the nine major criteria for depression (but not more than five) as a result of seasonal changes. While it is milder than primary SAD, SSAD is still significant and impacts millions.

Some data links schizophrenia to older paternal age and birth complications

Yet both associations are not yet considered firm enough to definitively be causative. Schizophrenia is a multi-causal syndrome and a mixture of factors, including genetics, are widely believed to be behind its development.

More than 5 million Americans have more than one autoimmune disease

Overall, about 4.6% of the US population—15 million people—have an autoimmune condition. Some common examples include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes, Grave's disease, and autoimmune thyroiditis.

Pregnancy at older ages increases the chances of fetal abnormalities

Chromosomal irregularities are more likely at older maternal ages so genetic testing for a fetus of mothers-to-be at age 35 and older is often recommended. Conditions that can be screened for in utero include cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, sickle cell disease, Down syndrome, spina bifida, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and more.

80% of schizophrenia cases may be inherited

Some research suggests that anywhere between 60% and 80% of people with schizophrenia had genes that predisposed them to the syndrome. That high rate has fueled interest in further exploration of what environmental and lifestyle factors cause some people with that genetic risk to develop the disease when others with the same genetic risks do not.

A 15-year bibliographic analysis identified systematic gender bias across Wikipedia

A 2024 study by the University of Barcelona found that 71.4% of all English biographies that appear on the front page are about men, and approximately one in five editors are women. Researchers suggest systemic imbalances in society further diminish women's contributions to the site by leaving them with less time to defend edits during editorial disputes.

Scientists identify hundreds of genes responsible for OCD

Researchers analyzed the DNA of more than 53,000 people with OCD and identified 30 areas in the genome linked to the disease, containing 249 genes of interest. Of those, several were linked to other brain disorders, paving the way for genetic treatments of various mental illnesses.

Women more likely than men to report strain of being a caregiver

A Pew Research Center caregiver analysis from 2026 indicates that, though men and women both say caring for aging parents improved their relationships with their parents, women are more likely than men to report that it had a negative impact on their emotional well-being and physical health.

Why are there as many males as females?

Pretty much every species breaks down with an equal sex-ratio, with roughly the same number of males as females. But on the surface, it appears that most species wouldn't need many males to keep the population growing, with their energy-efficient, abundant sex cell production. So why is it equal? Scientists argue an equal ratio is the most evolutionarily stable. Learn about this quirk of biology here.